Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu issued a decree on Sunday extending France’s investment-screening system to acquisitions of 10 percent or more of a listed French company operating in a sensitive sector – regardless of whether its shares are traded in France or abroad.
The government said the measure was intended to prevent opportunistic investors from acquiring influential stakes in French businesses and technologies considered vital to national security.
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A lower 10 percent threshold already applied to certain French companies listed on regulated markets. The decree broadens that protection to French businesses listed outside the European Union, closing a potential gap in the existing system.
The government said the change was needed “to guard against opportunistic, non-European equity acquisitions in French companies listed outside the EU that could pose threats to national security”.
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The screening system allows the economy ministry to examine transactions involving activities that could affect public order, public security or national defence.
The sectors covered include defence, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum technology, robotics, space operations and goods with both civilian and military applications.
Controls also extend to essential infrastructure and services in energy, water, transport, telecommunications and healthcare, as well as food security, political and general-interest news media and critical raw materials.
Low-carbon technologies, energy storage and biotechnology have also been brought within the system as France seeks to protect industries considered important to its future economic and technological independence.
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